liverpoolfcfandomcom-20200223-history
Jonjo Shelvey
Jonjo Shelvey (born 27 February 1992) is an English professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder for Liverpool from 2010-2013. He made 69 appearances in three seasons at Liverpool, scoring seven goals. Liverpool career Shelvey signed for Liverpool in April 2010, for an initial fee of £1,700,000, rising to £3,400,000 on his Premier League debut. He made his debut for the club as an extra-time substitute on 22 September 2010 in The Reds' shock League Cup third-round defeat against League Two side Northampton Town at Anfield. He started his first game for the club on 21 October 2010 in the Europa League tie against Napoli. On 24 October 2010 Shelvey made his Premier League debut against Blackburn Rovers in the 2-1 home win. When Kenny Dalglish returned as manager in place of Roy Hodgson, Shelvey was frequently used as a substitute, and clocked up 15 league appearances by the end of the 2010-11 season. However, new summer recruits such as Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam, and the return to fitness of Steven Gerrard saw Shelvey's chances of first team football in the 2011-12 season decline, and on 30 September 2011, it was confirmed that he had moved to Blackpool on loan until 31 December 2011 to help continue his development. Shelvey returned to Liverpool ahead of schedule on 30 November 2011 due to an injury to Lucas. He made his first appearance since his return in a game against Queens Park Rangers, when he came on as an 86th minute substitute for Stewart Downing on 10 December 2011. He then made his first start since his return on 18 December 2011 away to Aston Villa. Shelvey impressed throughout, and assisted Craig Bellamy's opening goal of the 2-0 victory with a clever flick-on from a corner. Shelvey scored his first goal for Liverpool on 6 January 2012 against Oldham in the third round of the FA Cup. Shelvey gradually became a more permanent fixture in the Liverpool starting XI as the season wore on, consistently putting in impressive performances and ultimately was unlucky not to make the starting XI for the 2012 FA Cup Final. He netted his second Liverpool goal on 8 May 2012 in a home League game against Chelsea. Chelsea 'keeper Ross Turnbull cleared the ball from the left flank, however it fell to Shelvey 30 yards out. Shelvey took one touch before demonstrating excellent technique to guide the ball high into the unguarded net, sealing a 4-1 win. In the run-up to the 2012-13 season, new manager Brendan Rodgers was initially keen to send Shelvey out on loan- even offering him to Swansea on loan as part of a proposed deal for Joe Allen. Impressive performances in pre-season however changed Rodgers' mind and Shelvey entered the season as a key player for the new manager. On 20 September 2012, Shelvey made a large impact in Liverpool's 5-3 win over Swiss team Young Boys in the Europa League group stage, where he scored a brace. With Liverpool trailing 3-2, Shelvey was introduced in the 66th minute. Within a minute of his arrival, Sebastian Coates managed to level the scores, and then Shelvey himself scored in the 76th minute. The goal came about after Fabio Borini picked up a loose Young Boys pass and played the ball to Jordan Henderson who set up Shelvey to knock in a right footed shot. He scored his second goal of the night after Fabio Borini made a run to take a defender out of Shelvey's path, which enabled him to run through on goal and power a strong left footed strike in from the edge of the box. In Liverpool's next game- against rivals Manchester United on 23 September 2012 at Anfield- Shelvey received a red card after lunging two-footed on United defender Jonny Evans. The sending off was controversial however as Evans was himself also lunging in two-footed, and it was thought by many that both men deserved the same punishment. Shelvey was outraged by the decision, and berated Alex Ferguson as he left the pitch. Liverpool went on to lose the match 2-1. On 9 December 2012, Shelvey played up front in a 'false 9' position away to his boyhood club West Ham in place of Liverpool's only fit striker Luis Suarez, who was suspended. With the match tied at 2-2, Shelvey connected with Jordan Henderson's cross to hit the winner for the Reds, however the last touch was thought to have come off West Ham defender James Collins, and the goal was initially given as an own goal. The goal was later awarded as Shelvey's by the dubious goals panel. Despite the good form Shelvey showed early in the season- even finishing as Liverpool's joint top-scorer in the Europa League- Shelvey's season took a significant turn for the worse after the new year. His form dipped markedly, whilst Jordan Henderson re-established himself in the team. This culminated in Shelvey only starting two League games in 2013. In the summer following the season's conclusion, Liverpool strengthened with buys such as Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto that seemingly pushed Shelvey even further down the pecking order. It was reported that Liverpool would be willing to listen to offers of around £5,000,000 for Shelvey and on 3 July 2013, it was reported that the club had accepted a bid of £6,000,000 from Swansea. His transfer to Swansea was confirmed later that day. He left Anfield having made 69 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals during his three seasons at the club. Honours Liverpool *League Cup: 1 (2012) Stats External links * *Jonjo Shelvey's profile on liverpoolfc.com * Shelvey Category:Former Players